Pages

Blog Statement

Life is too short to eat bad food! Sharing great recipes, farm life, stories and photography from our Northern California dairy farm.

TDM CCN Header

August 15, 2010

Flipping the Bird

Living on a ranch, observance is key. With all the wildlife, tractors, bulls, delivery trucks and such coming and going at any given time, it's a priority.

I'd like to think I'm an observant person. Or have become one in the past few years. And I am most of the time. Driving out, off the ranch or coming back home, I usually survey the landscape in search of wildlife I might be able to spot, such as, deer,owls, bob cats, mountain lions, hawks, etc. I pride myself in noticing and finding different forms of wildlife, and recognizing the species of bird, mostly so I can photograph it.

For a few days I had been observing some dove that had been hanging out, perched on our fence near the commodity barn. I wanted to share with Dominic that not only had these birds been hanging out for a few days on the fence, but just how observant I had become over the past few years. I am a ranch wife now after all. We notice these types of things. I was quite proud.

"Nancy, you do know that those are decoys, don't you?" says Dominic.

"Ummm...."

"One of them is even flipped upside down." he says. Now, he wasn't mocking me, he would never do that. He was just passing along the correct information.

"Well that would explain why they haven't moved" I said.

And that's all I said.

And that's how observant I've become over the past few years. Humility is good once in a while....right?

Then I turned, and walked back up the hill to the house.........

and preceded to make myself one of these.

Not to change the subject or anything, but these are GOOD!

I'm not a big iced tea fan, but this is now my cocktail of choice. It's Sweet Tea flavored vodka and when you mix it with lemonade.......it delicious and refreshing. The Hard Arnold Palmer is what I call it.